A report in British Columbia indicates that Premier Christy Clark, having failed in several previous attempts to rouse the enthusiasm of voters, is considering a new, foolproof target: civil servants.

The Province reports that a video on the provincial Liberal party’s web site could be a trial balloon for a good, old-fashioned assault on the pay and benefits of public employees.

“A lot of middle-class families are struggling to make ends meet,” Clark says on the video. “And I want to be sure that the wages and benefits for unionized government employees aren’t out of step with people in the private sector. If there is a wage and benefit gap between public- and private-sector employees, is that a problem? It’s a fair question to ask because, after all, it’s taxpayers’ money.”

And why not? Everyone else, except maybe Alberta, is doing it. In British Columbia’s case there may be some complications, given that support for unions is more embedded in voter DNA than in most other provinces. But there’s plenty of evidence that attacking the people who work for you hasn’t hurt other political leaders across Canada.

For example, the federal Tories may be suffering voter discontent on various fronts, but chopping civil service jobs isn’t one of them. Ottawa’s bureaucrats are so depressed that a local church is holding special non-time “reflection” services for them, but the biggest worry for the Conservatives has been its economic reputation, given the continual fumbling that has typified its handling of the F-35 fighter jet purchase. It is also taking flak over its determination to push the omnibus budget bill through Parliament without bothering with separate examinations of the dozens of unrelated measures tucked away in its 400-plus pages. But tears over civil service cuts have been few, despite regular hand-wringing from the unions, which can’t believe Parks Canada will survive without that extra ranger to cover for the lunch hour.

Similarly, Ontario’s Liberal premier did a volte-face after last October’s election and has been busily making life miserable for the very people he spent the previous eight years pampering like an only child. Just yesterday the Ontario Public Service Employee’s Union was beefing that a much-heralded government plan to beef up inspections at old age homes will concentrate on homes that have attracted the most complaints. Imagine. In the old days, you’d just hire an army of inspectors and blanket the field, regardless of cost. Now the government wants to focus on homes where there is actual evidence of problems. How heartless can you get?

It hasn’t hurt Dalton McGuinty’s Liberals much, though possibly because opposing parties haven’t shown much ability to exploit the government’s many weaknesses. Clark’s Liberals, on the other hand, are trailing the opposition New Democrats by a healthy margin and the premier’s personal ratings continue to plunge. A poll this week identified her as the second least-popular premier in the country, behind even Quebec’s beleaguered Jean Charest. (Darryl Dexter of Nova Scotia is last).

Clark heads a tired, old government that has been in power for well over a decade, but so have Charest and McGuinty. The B.C. party is also mulling a name change to fool voters (“Hey, where did the Liberals go? Guess I’ll have to vote for the New B.C. Good Guys Party instead, whoever they are.”) But something else is needed, i.e. a wedge issue, so the civil service may find itself in the cross-hairs. Hey, who gave them those bloated salaries? How did they get those fat-cat pensions? Who agreed to these ridiculously rich benefits?

Oh yeah, the government did. But that was before they changed their name. A new name changes everything.

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.